There Is Some Illegal Homebrewing Going on at the South Pole

The homebrewing trend may have just jumped the shark. Or at least a whole bunch of penguins. Brewing your own beer has become so popular, US researchers are even allegedly doing it in a lab down in Antarctica. But like so many fun activities, government regulations might bring it to an end.

According to a recent audit conducted by the National Science Foundation of the United States Antarctic Program – our government’s ongoing research and support program for the ice-covered continent – officials “observed large quantities of bottled beer stored under a desk and in the refrigerator in the science lab.” Taking a break for a brew every now and then when you’re stuck on the continent with the fewest bars seems innocent enough, but apparently policy prohibits employees from possessing alcoholic beverages in work centers.

So where did this contraband come from? The report states, “We were informed by a subcontractor employee that a researcher was brewing the beer at the station, which is also prohibited by the USAP Alcohol Policy.” What a snitch! Good luck getting your hands on any of the next batch of Penguin Porter, dude!

Officials are worried that incidents such as this speak to lax enforcement of the USAP Code of Conduct. Though more importantly, if that brewing was at all funded by tax dollars, those researchers better release the recipe.